My San Francisco Sweet Tooth

Many of you know that I’m training for the Nike Women’s Marathon this Sunday. And most of you know that currently, what I do for “work” is write about food. Now thankfully, those two things have been a really nice pair. It’s been working out just fine. Eat, run, eat some more, write a little. But I’ve been advised that after Sunday, I may have to cut back on my generally ravenous appetite. I’ll worry about that later…for now, here’s a visual chronicle of a food writer’s week. And not just any food writer, but one with a penchant for sweets, and cookies in particular.

There’s a great new lunch pop-up in the Tenderloin called American Box. Remember the lunch boxes you had as a kid? Well they’re doing them for adults. This is a warm oatmeal raisin cookie fresh out of the bag. I will add that right before I got to take a bite of this cookie, I was pulled over for having an expired registration. My grown-up lunch box cost me about $117.

How is it that I’ve never, ever been to Mitchell’s? I had a fantastic meal at The Front Porch with Craig and Linnea last week for a piece I’m doing on Soul Food in the city. We were cruising around the neighborhood, walking off our fried chicken and macaroni and cheese, when we stumbled upon Mitchell’s. I’m much more of a chocolate ice cream kind of girl, but their fruit flavors are pretty incredible. The young coconut and cantaloupe were flying out the door.

I picked up donuts for my fellow writing interns a few days ago. I’d been meaning to go to Dynamo Donut since they opened. Word on the street was the Apple Maple Bacon donut was close to perfection. With little bits of crispy bacon and pieces of apple (that are sauteed in bacon fat) atop a light and airy donut, what could be better? The caramel sel and chocolate saffron donuts (above right), while heftier, were also delicious. I’ll be back.

Nothing better than a vintage dessert making a comeback. Enter the whoopie pie. Teacake Bakeshop is doing a pseudo mini version (about 2 inches)–a perfect after lunch treat or midnight snack.

I went to check out their frozen yogurt, but I got sidetracked. The chocolate chip cookies at Fraiche are amazing. And I don’t often rave about something I make well at home (and I make a pretty fine chocolate chip cookie). But somehow Fraiche has managed to create a truly layered, buttery, magnificently crispy cookie.I’m not sure why I’ve never been to New Orleans. It seems like my kind of town. To tide me over before I get there, beignets are easy to come by in San Francisco. Some are certainly better than others. My personal favorite are Brenda’s stuffed beignets (granny smith apples and cinnamon honey butter all fried up in a warm doughy pocket). But a close second are the larger beignets (above) at Just For You. They’re simple, have light airy pockets, and the perfect amount of powdered sugar. I was in the neighborhood, so I had a few…

Now after writing this little post, I’m thinking my friends and family may be right. It might be time to cut back a little.